FCC walks through comparative hearings

Faced with a pile of mutually exclusive FM CP applications, which were not able to be resolved by the competing parties, the FCC went through its blow-by-blow point-based procedures to determine tentative awardees for 59 separate groups of applicants.

The Commission looked at things like coverage area, potential population to be served, presence of existing broadcast signals, whether or not the prospective licensee is local, the diversity of the prospective licensee’s ownership lineup, and other things. It often moved into a tie-breaker, which favored the applicant currently holding the fewest FCC licenses.

For a fascinating look at the 50 different case studies, we’ve attached the full FCC document detailing the proceeding.